What's New At The 2026 World Cup?
Passionate about the Canadian Sports betting market, as well as the French national side, I'm taking a break from the day job of comparing Canadian betting sites on lebonparissportif/ca to focus on everything that's new at the upcoming World Cup.
New Format
If you haven’t heard (where have you been!), the 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 nations. That’s quite a change from the traditional 32 teams that we’ve come to associate with World Cups of the modern day.
With that, then, come various other changes, including:
- The most ever WC games - A total of 104 matches (up from 64)
- A new group phase format (12 groups of 4 teams, with the top two & eight best third-placed teams progressing to the last 32).
- A new knockout round after the group stage (Round of 32)
- The longest WC ever: the tournament will now last 39 days (instead of 28-32 days), starting on June 11 and ending on July 19.
It’s also the first World Cup to be co-hosted by three nations: the United States, Canada & Mexico.
New Countries
The expanded 48-team format has given nations that have never previously qualified for a World Cup the opportunity to do so.
Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan & Uzbekistan will all be making their World Cup debuts this summer and make history in the process.
New Rules
There will be a host of new rules for managers, players and supporters to get used to as FIFA look to improve certain aspects of the game.
The most notable changes to look out for are:
- A potential red card for players who attempt to cover their mouths while speaking to opponents during on-field confrontations
- Accumulated yellow cards are to be wiped out at the end of the group stage and after the quarter-finals to prevent suspensions
- Players being substituted will need to leave the field within 10 seconds or risk their replacement not being allowed to come on for 60 seconds
- A 5 second timer on goal kicks and throw-ins
- VAR can intervene to review second yellow cards and check if a corner was wrongly awarded
- Players who receive treatment must remain off the pitch for 60 seconds
A Brand New Ball!
The World Cup ball can sometimes become a talking point, especially if it starts to do things nobody expects (ask the goalkeepers who had to deal with the unpredictability of the ‘Jubulani’ in South Africa in 2010!)
The ball specially designed by Adidas for this year’s edition is the ‘Trionda’, which features the flag colours of all three host nations.
As for the name, it comes from a combination of the word ‘tri’ (three) fused with ‘onda’, which translates as ‘wave’ in Spanish. The result? “Triple Wave” or “Three Waves” (again, referring to the World Cup being played in three countries). Clever!
And (of course) a New World Cup Song!
Finally, and most importantly, a new edition of the World Cup means a new World Cup song!
But rather than release one single anthem, FIFA is continuing with the multi-song album strategy used at the last World Cup in Qatar.
The first of those tracks, “Lighter”, brings together artists from all three co-hosts: American country singer Jelly Roll, Mexican artist Carín León and Canadian producer Cirkut:
Admittedly, it doesn't quite have the same vibe as Shakira’s “Waka Waka” from the 2010 World Cup or Ricky Martin’s “The Cup of Life” from France ’98, admittedly, but, you know, each to their own!
